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Dec 30, 2009

Tomorrow is December 31 and we celebrate the coming of the new year with lots of noise and revelry. In my house, despite my protestations, my husband buys firecrackers for himself and the kids while I buy torotot instead. Unlike most people, I do not buy thirteen kinds of fruits nor do I believe that cooking chicken during the New Year means luck would fly away. In the first place, fowls do not fly and besides chicken is cheaper than pork precisely because of this belief. I also do not believe in waiting for midnight before eating the food we prepare. We eat dinner and just have some desserts before going to bed after lighting those firecrackers. I also do not go around the house opening all doors and windows to bring in good luck. I know that doing this would instead fill the house with smoke from all those firecrackers. I do not wear polka dots nor fill my pockets with coins. I do not believe in lot of things, I know but that doesn't mean that I do not welcome the new year at all.

I believe that one way to celebrate the coming year is to keep an open mind and an open heart instead. Keeping my mind open means I invite positive ideas and energy into my life. I keep my heart open by sharing my blessings and by being thankful for everything that happened this past year. I may make a lot of noise like a diesel turbocharger in celebrating the new year, but I do welcome it with open arms.

Dec 29, 2009

Today is the last day of work for us and we are wrapping up some work and cleaning up our cubicles to be ready for the coming year. I emptied 3 drawers and shredded several boxes of files yesterday and today. I am eager for the new year of work to start. I love my job because it is a source of livelihood for me and I have very good friends here. I enjoy my work and I know that I am part of a very good team. So I definitely feel thankful for this bountiful year at work and for great friends and office mates.

The picture above was taken during our Christmas lunch and exchange gift get together yesterday. It was really a fun lunch, filled with much laughter and happiness. Each of us got very well-thought of gifts and token. The food was simple but the company was great so it was really enjoyable. Add to that, I found out PickTorrent.com - Torrents Search Engine to replace my old flame, Mininova. So while we were happily having lunch and reminiscing about our year at work, I was downloading the latest movies!

So goodbye to this year at work and here is to a happy and fruitful new beginning!

Dec 27, 2009

As parents, we only want the best for our kids. My husband and I decided to give them each something special this year and so we tried to ask them what they wanted.

Ishi, our youngest wanted some colored pencils, coloring books and a sharpener. Imagine her delight when she opened them!

Drexelle, our eldest wanted a bike and despite my reservations about accidents, we decided to get him one. Initial order was to keep the bike under lock whenever not in use. He has history of losing stuff, most recently, his glasses!

And for Danniel, our mid-child who turned seven last November, we decided to give him that PSP he very much wanted. You should see how his face literally lighted up when he saw what his gift was!

For husband and myself, we didn't get anything special. Well, I wanted an Italian leather sofas but there is just no space in our house for it. Maybe we can buy one once we have bought our dream house! Ha ha, I dream big I know.

Let us just say that giving those gifts, and seeing their happiness once they've opened them was a very heartwarming occasion for us. Though we try to give them the best that we can all the time, Christmas is just the season for us to really go all out. I just hope that other than the material things, I hope that they realize that we love them very much!

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Dec 23, 2009

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. And I do love you, everyday, of our 12 years together. Happy Anniversary, and here's to twelve more, 20 more, 50 more years with you. I love you, Sweetheart!

I can still recall the picture above taken in our PUP tambayan during one of our rare free times. We had such fun just playing around. That time, I was already madly in love with you.

Look at us now, 12 years and 3 kids ago but still going strong. Hope that you will stay the best husband, the best father and the best friend that you have been during all this time.

Dec 21, 2009

I am lucky to have a very wonderful older sister who is generous and kind. She makes me become a better person just by believing in me. And I feel also very lucky that she has been blessed with kids after more than seven years of marriage. We were afraid before that she will forever be just an aunt to my kids and not experience the joy of having her own children. Thankfully, our prayers were answered and she and her husband of 11 years now have two wonderful and vivacious kids: Nikka and Mico.

Here is Nikka, posing for me with her beautiful smile.

And here is Mico, not quite two years old but brave enough to ride (and drive!) this bike on his own! I really feel blessed to have this two kids in my life and I hope I can be the best Aunt there is for them!

Dec 16, 2009

Christmas is just 9 days away and the signs of the season are everywhere! You see kids singing carols and hoping for some coins. The kids below are my children and their cousins. It was really heartwarming to see them bond together, and despite the disappointment of not being allowed to finish their song at at all at some houses, they were not deterred at all and were still laughing while going to the next door!

One funny line of their song goes:

Thank you, thank you.May malaking aso, Takbo!

When we passed by our church on the way home, in time for the anticipated dawn mass were these bibingka stalls. A "special" bibingka costs fifty pesos and a regular one is thirty pesos. Sadly, what we had was tasteless and burnt! I think they need more practice.

Dec 15, 2009

This is my latest toy, a Singer Sewing machine which is technically not new, but rather newly resurrected. She is one of the victims of Ondoy in my house. I call her Zinia by the way.

I bought her two years ago from a garage sale for my mother. Originally, she was a cabinet-type sewing machine and can be transformed into an electric one. Unfortunately, a neighbor used her and left her damaged. There was no repairman available for the longest time, and then there was Ondoy. Zinia was thoroughly submerged and cabinet was damaged. Last weekend, a repairman came looking for a neighbor who was referred by somebody and he ended up repairing ours. I really thought that we will have to sell this as junk and I was really happy to have her resurrected!

So I had a happy Saturday doing my first sewing project: throw pillows! We have some spare fabric which I used to practice my rusty sewing skills and the results are below.

They are not yet perfect and I had to undo the stitches twice to get them right but I am happy to have been reunited with another of my favorite activities. I had the choice of shopping for a new LCD monitor bit chose to sew instead, that's how much I love sewing.

Dec 11, 2009

This is my favorite moment, when my kids are thoroughly enjoying themselves without a care inthe world! That is the time when I feel so proud of being their mother. It makes me feel that I have accomplished something magnificent and really important.

And most especially, when I see that they love each other, and care for each other, my heart swells with pride at having brought them up that way together with my husband. Truly, nothing else can make a mother more proud than to see her kids happy and loving their life.

Our personal computer at home choose this season to conk out on me! There are viruses that made it impossible to connect to the Internet, and just last night, the monitor died! Yes, it did. And it chose a very bad time to go. A monitor is not on my list this Christmas, but now it has to be. I told my husband that I just want an LCD monitor for the family so he need not buy anything for me. I told him he can consider it a Christmas gift to self, he he. Anyway, the CPU is now being checked by our ever-reliable IT guy here are at the office. I told him to reformat the drives and we will just copy the files I have stored there. Good thing he has duplicate files software so this will be an easy job for him. Besides, this is just a "paki" so I just need to give him a token or something this Christmas.

I rarely gift my self during Christmas, because what I usually buy are for the family. I intend to buy a bookshelf, some curtains and more stuff for the house, instead of splurging on something that I really, really like. But if have extra money that I can spend on myself without the guilt feeling I usually have when buying anything for myself, I would love to buy an external hard drive. Yes, I am cheap that way! But I cannot bear to ask hubby to buy it for me, nor can I bring myself to buy it. Anyway, I told myself that if my blogging income reaches a certain amount before the month ends, then I will buy it for myself. Unless, something else has to be bought first :-)

Dec 7, 2009

I tweeted this morning, while cooking breakfast and checking emails that I love Mondays. Then I was flooded with comments from friends that they hate Mondays. So I am telling them now why I love Mondays.

1. Monday for me is the start of the week. It means another chance to start over and do better than the previous week.

2. Mondays give me a chance to start a new diet plan (which I break mid-week!)

3. It is a chance for me to finish things-to-do that I have left over the previous week. My motto, why do today what you can do tomorrow, gives me a chance to redeem myself during Mondays.

4. I love surprises and for sure, a new day on a new week is sure to bring one!

5. It makes me thankful that me and my husband have jobs, my kids can still go to school and we are still alive.

Dec 2, 2009

We are certifiably Farmville addicts in the family. Me, my husband, my two boys and my sister each has an account and we compete against each other on who gets to level up first. As of today, I am winning as I am already on level 31. Yes, I started late on this game and while I enjoy playing it, it really eats a lot of my blogging time!

Anyway, being Farmville addicts has its advantages. My kids now know vegetables (artichokes, what artichokes!) and flowers. And when we travel, they look at rice fields and understand that the farmer is plowing, or harvesting.

Of course, I have my own real life Farmville story. While on a trek to Tall volcano, this horse just wouldn't move!

Dec 1, 2009

Today is the first day of December and my kids are already excited that Christmas is just some 20 days away. They are counting the days, as it is. My eldest was already asking me when I would buy his shoes, which he intends to use during their Christmas party. My other son is asking when I will pay for his party and when we will buy his gift for the usual exchange gift. My daughter will have her party in McDonald's and the fee is P500 for 2. Ouch, I say! Yes, Christmas means gifts for the kids and expenses for Mommies and Daddies.

But while I cry ouch over the expected expenses, I cannot help but feel enthusiastic about the season. Who won't be, when you hear your kids counting the days when they will each receive their special gift?

For my eldest, aside from the pang-porma shoes, he has been asking me to buy him a bike. My husband and I are still discussing this, as my son is not very good at keeping his stuff safe and we think that he may not be ready to own a bike. He almost lost a cellphone during a field trip, he lost his jacket, and his coin purse is missing almost everyday! But maybe, this will teach him to secure his possession if we buy a chain together with the bike!

As for my younger son, we promised him a PSP during his 7th birthday if he won't have a party. But he opted for a party so he is not expecting a PSP anymore. But if a second-hand unit becomes available, then we will get him one.

I still don't know what we are getting for our daughter. She changes her mind everyday! One day she wants a stuff toy, the next a laptop and the next, a pencil! I think I will opt for the pencil, he he.

My kids are very easy to please. While we try to get them stuff that are quite expensive by our standards, because we want them to have these things we haven't had growing up, they know how to appreciate them. A gift, be it a PSP or a pencil, or a make-up kit that costs P35, will earn from them a genuine smile and a generous hug. If they ask for something we cannot afford, they don't throw fits or tantrums but will just accept our promise to try. I am really thankful that my kids are like that!

So I welcome December and the opportunity to shower my kids with even more love than I do everyday!